Manager Ron Gardenhire hinted that Hendriks might be coming out of the starting rotation after the righthander crumbled on Monday, three outs from qualifying for his first major league victory. Hendriks is 0-7 in 12 career starts and 0-5 with a 7.04 ERA this year.

De Vries held the Royals to one run over six innings Saturday in Game 2 of a doubleheader at Target Field. He'll be in Detroit tonight and might be available in relief with the Twins dealing with an exhausted bullpen. De Vries could also start Saturday against the Rangers, in Hendriks' place.

Tonight's game

The Tigers switched starting pitchers for tonight's game, giving Max Scherzer a chance to rest an ailing hamstring, and giving lefthander Duane Below a chance to make a spot start. Below, who has a 2.70 ERA in 21 appearances, threw 41 pitches last Wednesday against the Rangers. This will be his third major league start.

Interestingly, lefties have hit much better against him this year (.263) than righties (.200).

Newer Post

Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.